Goulding at youth charity event

Ellie Goulding is to share a stage with US politician Al Gore and Sir Richard Branson at an event being staged at Wembley Arena with the aim of inspiring young people.

Around 12,000 students and teachers from more than 400 schools are expected to attend the We Day event in March which will also include appearances from actor Clive Owen and Paralympian Martine Wright.

We Day has already been staged in other countries by international charity Free The Children, and will be accompanied by a year-long educational programme called We Act.

Students have a chance of attending the Wembley event by earning tickets through making a commitment to performing charitable acts locally and globally.

Other familiar names are expected to be added to the bill in the coming weeks ahead of the March 7 event, which is backed by Virgin Atlantic and Barclays.

Craig Kielburger, who co-founded Free The Children with his brother Marc in 1995, said: "We are absolutely thrilled to bring We Day to the UK for the first time and hope with the help of students across the country we can continue to make positive change locally in the UK and globally."

We Day events have enabled young people to raise over £22 million for more than 1,000 causes since 2007.